St Clears Town Hall () is a municipal building in the High Street,

St Clears St Clears ( ; ) is a town on the River Taf and a community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,995. The community includes the small settlements of Bancyfelin and Pwlltrap. It is bordered by the Carmarthenshire t ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The structure, which is currently disused, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building was originally commissioned a storehouse for a residential building opposite, Cross House. The site selected was on the west side of the High Street opposite to the

lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...

of the Priory Church of St Mary Magdalene. It was designed in the vernacular style, built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

and was completed in the early 19th century. The storehouse was acquired by the St Clears Corporation for £130 and converted into a municipal building at a cost of £119 at the corporation's expense in 1848. The architect was John Rogers, the son of a local entrepreneur, James Rogers. The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto the High Street. The ground floor was arcaded, with three round headed openings headed by red brick

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s, so that markets could be held. It was fenestrated by three

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s on the first floor. A coped external staircase, leading up to a porch on the first floor, was erected at the south end of the building. A circular plaque was placed between the first two windows: it depicted a legendary

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

, known as the

Twrch Trwyth Twrch Trwyth (; also ), is a fabulous wild boar from the Legend of King Arthur, of which a richly elaborate account of its hunt described in the Welsh prose romance '' Culhwch and Olwen'', probably written around 1100. Its hunt involved King ...

, around which was inscribed the name of the owner of the building, in English and in Welsh, "Corporation of St. Clears. Prif Cufeillach Trwy'r Byd". Internally, the principal rooms were a market hall on the ground floor and an assembly room on the first floor. In the 19th century, the building was also used for public meetings and for religious services held on behalf of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. The borough council, which was managed by a

court leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etymo ...

that had held its meetings in the town hall, was abolished under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1883 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

. The assets of the corporation, including the town hall, were transferred to a newly established body, the St Clears Town Trust, in around 1890. The building was used as a children's classroom from the 1960s and then as a carpenter's workshop in the early 21st century. However, it is currently disused and the condition of the fabric of the building is deteriorating.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clears Town Hall St Clears City and town halls in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Carmarthenshire Government buildings completed in 1848